GP2 Series. Monaco
COMPLICATED WEEKEND FOR THE RACING ENGINEERING TEAM
IN MONACO
 Giorgio
Pantano, involved in two incidents when hit by rivals, was
unable to complete either of the two tests. Javier Villa is
still making promising progress
1st Race
Neither of the Repsol drivers escaped from the usual incidents
and traffic problems which are so common to the races held
in Monaco. Both Giorgio Pantano and Javier Villa were unable
to achieve a good result, after the Italian was victim of
a number of brushes throughout the exciting test, and the
Spaniard found it impossible to climb back from the low position
he had started from.
Incidentally, the start, which is normally the moment each
year when the most problems happen in Monaco, was this time
exceptionally clean, with the 25 single-seaters passing through
the Sainte Devote funnel without incident. Pantano, who started
from fifth position, fell a couple of places when he was pushed
against the protection barriers by Chandhock, forcing him
to lift his foot off the gas, while Javier Villa, starting
out in 18th position, climbed a place when he overtook Roldán
Rodríguez.
Having seen their classification during the training sessions,
both drivers' tactic regarding the obligatory pitstop was
very different, with Villa as one of the first to do the pitstop
in order to have as much free ground ahead as possible over
the next few laps, while Giorgio held out in the leading pack
for as long as possible, only to stop when most of his rivals
had already done so.
At the start everything went as planned, with Villa changing
his tyres at the beginning of the test, and immediately starting
to ride fast once he had returned to the race and there was
no traffic ahead. But things started getting complicated for
the Spanish team when the Dallara bearing the Repsol colours
driven by Pantano was brushed by the Arden team single-seater
driven by Sebastien Buemi, with fatal results for the Racing
Engineering driver, forced to abandon the race when he had
good options of finishing once again among the fastest, and
of claiming a good starting position facing Saturday's sprint.
Javier Villa was able, meanwhile, to stay in the race, though
he soon met heavy traffic ahead, which prevented him from
running his current pace and progressing in the classification,
finally finishing in 14th place after a brush close to the
end of the race with Conway, which cost him a ten position
panalty on the following day's starting grid.
2nd Race
With two drivers starting out at the back of the grid, there
was not much room for optimism within Racing Engineering regarding
the chance of getting good results in the sprint. And it was
finally the case. Javier Villa ran a solid and intelligent
race, avoiding the numerous incidents around him and finishing
tenth, while Giorgio Pantano was forced to withdraw when he
had a brush with another car early on in the test.
The race started under dark clouds and the threat of rain,
but only a few drops fell before the start and all participants
were using slicks. The 25 cars got off to a clean start from
the grid, but when they reached the funnel at Ste. Devote,
two of them came into contact with Bakkerud hitting Zuber
from behind, flying over him. Both cars sponsored by Repsol
of Racing Engineering passed by the area avoiding the debris
on the track, with Giorgio forced very close to the fence.
At the end of the first lap, Giorgio was 14th and Javier was
just a few places behind, 17th, after a positive first lap.
Over the next few laps, Pantano struggled with Puglisi in
front and with Filippi behind, all three drivers waiting for
the slightest mistake by their rivals. Villa was in full battle
with Hanley, who was right behind him and running a similar
pace.
When Pantano passed through the chicane during the eighth
lap he tried to overtake Puglisi, but while the Racing Engineering
driver was making his move, the Durango driver pushed him
against the wall leaving the tunnel, leaving Giorgio out of
the race with damage to the front suspension of his car.
After Valerio spun around soon after Giorgio withdrew, the
Safety Car intervened again and at the start of lap 12 the
cars restarted the race with Javier Villa in fifteenth position,
catching up with Kobayashi while Hanley pressed hard from
behind. Over the next three laps things did not change, though
Kobayashi later withdrew with damage to his suspension and
Villa climbed to fourteenth position, closing in on Filippi.
During the final laps Javier Villa continued to attack, even
cutting through the chicane three laps from the end, but was
unable to overtake Filippi, though he did manage to put a
slight distance between himself and Hanley, finishing in thirteenth
position with a second and a half advantage over the Campos
Racing driver.
Though it was not the weekend Racing Engineering expected,
there is valuable information for the Spanish team at the
end of it. Once more, the cars were totally reliable and Giorgio's
two withdrawals were due to brushes with other cars. What
is more, as during previous races, both drivers ran competitve
times during the qualifying tests and the race.
GP2 now takes a month's rest before recontinuing the competition
in Magny Tours, next 21st June.
Quotes
Javier Villa >>
>> First Race
“I started off well. At the beginning I overtook Roldán,
pushed hard for two laps and then stopped to change the tyres.
From then on I was alone for 3 or 4 laps, until I caught
up with the cars ahead. I was driving very fast and felt very
comfortable in the car, but it was a tough race, with a lot
of incidents.”
>> Second Race
“We knew it was going to be a tough race. We were starting
out from very far back and we have to look at how far we got.
In the end we finished in number 13, so we climbed 11 positions.
But that's not what counts; what really matters is that we
were a few decimal points behind the fastest lap time. That's
good news for all the team facing the next test and the rest
of the championship.”
Giorgio Pantano >>
>> First Race
“The start wasn't perfect. My tyres skidded hard and
Chandhook pushed me against the wall, so I had to lift my
foot off the gas. After that overtaking was hard.
I was probably faster than a few of the cars ahead of me,
but there was no way to overtake them. Then Buemi hit me and
I was out. A shame, because I was in a good position, mainly
thinking about Saturday's race.”
>> Second Race
“I ran a good race and the car was performing well.
But when I tried to overtake, my Italian friend Puglisi pushed
me against the wall outside the tunnel and everything ended
there.”
Official Results
>> First Race
1. B. SENNA (iSPORT)
2. P. MALDONADO (PIQUET SPORTS) at 00.674
3. K. CHANDHOK (iSPORT INTERNATIONAL) at 44.923
4. A. VALLÉS (BCN COMP.) at 47.592
5. A. PARENTE (SUPER NOVA) at 48.191
14. J. VILLA (RACING ENGINEERING)
NC. Giorgio PANTANO (RACING ENGINEERING)
>> Second Race
1. Mike CONWAY (TRIDENT)
2. H. TUNG (TRIDENT) at 18.446
3. A. PARENTE (SUPER NOVA) at 18.915
4. R. RODRÍGUEZ (FMS) at 20.898
5. B. SENNA (iSPORT) at 21.298
13. Javier VILLA (RACING ENGINEERING) at 39.162
NC. Giorgio PANTANO (RACING ENGINEERING)
>> Overall Classification
1. B. SENNA (iSPORT) 24 Points
2. G. PANTANO (RACING ENGINEERING) 24 Points
3. R. GROSJEAN (ART GRAND PRIX) 19 Points
4. A. PARENTE (SUPER NOVA) 19 Points
5. S. BUEMI (TRUST TEAM ARDEN) 16 Points
15. J. VILLA (RACING ENGINEERING) 3 Points
|
